Sniper Kill Shot: Bolt On The Easiest 142 HP Ever!

If you want to snipe the competition, you better be packing a little something extra under your carb!

When you mention the word sniping, different things come to mind for different people. For some, the word conjures up images of long-range kill shots, à la Vassili Zaytsev in Enemy at the Gates or Chris Kyle in American Sniper. For me, it brings back memories of many Thanksgiving meals that ended up in a discussion on the time-honored tradition of snipe hunting. For those unfamiliar, snipes are small birds that frequent the American countryside. The process for successfully capturing said snipe is to break up into two teams. Team one, the bush beaters, are usually comprised of the more experienced snipers. The bush beaters flush out the snipes toward team two, the lone individual known as the bag holder. The bag holder stands in readiness to apprehend said snipes, flushed out by the bush beaters. So far, this all seems totally plausible, right? Of course, the bush beating and bag holding take place in the dead of night, when snipes are most active, you know. Sometimes it takes a while before the (usually young) bag holder realizes that he has been left literally holding the bag, as the bush beaters are off having a drink somewhere, laughing and telling stories about their first snipe hunt.

By now, Car Craft readers should recognize this motor, but for those who don’t, it was originally a 351W crate motor from Ford Racing. The GT-40–headed crate motor was now sporting aluminum Holley heads and a mild cam of unknown origin and specification.

So what do snipers and snipe hunting have in common? Well, both rely on some measure of deception for success. In the automotive world, nitrous oxide falls into the same category, as it is often used in a deceptive nature, especially in street racing, though at various times in professional racing as well. The deceptive nature was especially effective in the early days, before the magic elixir became mainstream. Given the crosshairs in the logo, we suspect that the NOS boys named their Sniper nitrous systems for long shot, but believe us, nothing beats a good snipe hunt.

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Regardless of its backstory, the Sniper nitrous system was perfect for our 351W, since it offered the two things we like most in a performance upgrade: big bang and low buck. When it comes to adding lots of power for little money, nothing beats nitrous oxide, making the low-cost Sniper the perfect upgrade. Now combine ease of installation with the stealth and cost factors, not to mention that the nitrous system was transferable from one motor to another, and it’s easy to understand the popularity. You see, my fellow Snipers, nitrous doesn’t care what motor you use it on. If you configure the system with jetting to supply an extra 100 hp, you will get another 100 hp (or more), regardless of whether your motor sports a Blue Oval, Bow Tie, or horny Ram.

We installed the Sniper plate onto our dual-plane intake. It is important to note that the plate itself worked as an open carb spacer, which changed the jetting requirements of our dual-plane manifold. There would be less of a change on an open-plenum, single-plane intake.

As indicated previously, the Sniper nitrous-oxide system was designed to offer both safe and substantial performance at an affordable price (about $450, not including the cost of nitrous). Though the cost was kept low, the Sniper system featured a ton of quality components you will find in more expensive systems. Naturally, the Sniper plate kit was supplied complete and ready to install on any four-barrel intake equipped with a Holley 4150 carb flange. Like all good kits, the Sniper nitrous system (PN 07001NOS) included the bottle, nitrous plate, and solenoids. In addition to the major components, the kit also featured bottle mounts, arming and activation switches, and all the wiring and clamps to complete your installation.

The Sniper plate nitrous kit was adjustable up to 150 hp using the supplied jetting.

We liked the fact that (like more expensive kits), the power output of the affordable Sniper kit was adjustable. Thanks to the supplied jetting included in the kit, the power output offered by the Sniper kit was adjustable from 100 to 150 hp. What performance motor wouldn’t be a little better with an additional 100 to 150 hp? On paper, the Sniper system sounded great, but there was only one way to find out what it really did: jump on the ol’ dyno!

We reduced the ignition timing by 3 degrees with our 100hp shot on pump (91-octane) gas. This move actually increases horsepower and helps prevent engine damage. Adding nitrous speeds up the combustion process, building cylinder pressure earlier in the stroke. By retarding the ignition event, you move the peak cylinder pressure back to where it makes max power.

Once again, we relied on our tried-and-true 351W crate motor from Ford Racing. Loyal Car Craft readers will recognize this from our previous testing on headers, carbs, and intakes, but a quick review of the specs was in order for those just joining the party. The 351W started out life as a 385hp Ford Racing crate motor, but had since been modified with Holley aluminum heads, an unknown cam, and a dual-plane Edelbrock Performer RPM Air Gap intake. Other components included a 28-ounce damper from Speedmaster, an MSD distributor, and aluminum roller rockers from Comp Cams.

Run with the long-tube headers, the 351W combination produced 420 hp at 6,100 rpm and 429 lb-ft of torque at 4,300 rpm. After installation of the Sniper nitrous kit with 125hp jetting, the power output jumped to 562 hp at 5,800 rpm and 583 lb-ft of torque at 4,900 rpm. The power gains offered by the Sniper kit came in part from proper preparation, as we made sure to both retard the ignition timing by 3 degrees (run on 91-octane pump gas) and dial in the fuel pressure to the fuel solenoid. Proper tuning can make or break a good nitrous motor. Now all you have to do is properly conceal it and head out from a good snipe hunt!

On the DynoFord 351W With Nitrous (125HP Shot)This is why we love nitrous so much. Just take a look at the power gains offered by a simple Sniper plate nitrous kit. Thanks to attention to detail (meaning proper tuning), the 125hp jetting actually increased the power output by 142 hp and 154 lb-ft of torque. There is nothing like that kick in the pants you get after activating a good nitrous kit. Just make sure not to get greedy and run too much nitrous or activate it too early in the rpm band.

For our nitrous testing, the crate motor was topped with a dual-plane, Edelbrock Performer RPM Air Gap intake—a great intake manifold for this mildly modified street engine.Feeding the Edelbrock intake was a 750 Ultra XP carburetor, though testing had shown it was probably overkill for this mild application.Other components used on the Ford crate motor included an MSD distributor, Meziere electric water pump, and Speedmaster 28-ounce damper.Hooker came through with these 1¾-inch, long-tube Super Comp headers for our test motor. Check out the comparison we did with shorty headers [Ford 351W Dyno Test: Shorty Versus Long-Tube Headers] to see how much power long tubes were worth.Run in normally aspirated trim, the mild 351W produced 420 hp at 6,100 rpm and 429 lb-ft of torque at 4,300 rpm.The Sniper nitrous kit included this 4150 plate designed to sandwich between the carburetor and the intake. Note the dual spray bars designed to deliver fuel and nitrous to the motor.The affordable Sniper kit featured a dedicated nitrous solenoid designed to allow nitrous flow at the push of a button.Naturally, the kit also included a matching fuel solenoid. The nitrous injection must be accompanied by additional fuel to keep the air/fuel ratio in check.Maximizing the power output offered by a nitrous kit requires proper tuning, including fuel pressure to the nitrous solenoid.We set the fuel pressure supply to the nitrous solenoid using this fuel-flow orifice. The orifice was designed to simulate the fuel flowing on the activated system. Setting a static pressure with no flow will not provide an accurate supply pressure.We made sure to optimize bottle pressure (at just above 900 psi) using this bottle heater.The activation button for our nitrous was positioned on the throttle handle for the dyno.Run with the Sniper kit jetted to provide an extra 125 hp, we were rewarded with peak numbers of 562 hp and 583 lb-ft of torque. Credit proper tuning for the healthy gain, but sniping with nitrous has never been easier.